Episode 012: Dane Morrison, True Yankees: The South Seas & the Discovery of American Identity

Did you know that Americans undertook their first trade mission to China in February 1784?

A mercantile partnership led by Robert Morris sent the Empress of China, a 360-ton ship to Canton, China one month and eight days after the Congress of the United States ratified the Treaty of Paris, 1783.

Why did these merchants look so far east to secure a profitable trade?

And why did they attempt such a venture not long after the United States secured its independence from Great Britain?

He reveals why early American merchants tried to secure a profitable trade at so great a distance from the United States, the logistics involved to undertake a 6-month, one-way voyage from the United States to China, and how the Hong merchants of China received the early American traders who entered their ports.

Dane also shares the how the legacy of this early trade continues to impact the present-day trade between China and the United States.

What You’ll Discover

How Dane developed his interest in early American voyages to China

An overview of the early history of Salem, Massachusetts

Why Robert Morris and his partners chose to fund a voyage to China in 1784, less than 6 months after the definitive peace with Great Britain

More about the pamphlet that prompted Great Britain to take a retributive stance against the United States and its trade after the War for Independence

Who John Ledyard was and how he influenced Americans to seek a trade with East Asia

The logistics for a late 18th-century sea voyage to China

What types of trade goods early Americans brought to China for exchange

The ports of call for early American voyagers to the Far East

The length of a sea voyage from the United States to China

What happened when the Americans arrived in Macao in 1784

How the population of late 18th-century China compared with the urban centers of the early United States

How the Hong merchants of Canton received American merchants

How Chinese and American merchants overcame their language barrier

Early American goals for the China trade

How early Americans used the China trade to learn more about themselves as Americans

What elements of the “Old China” trade persist and carry over into the present-day United States-China trade

The contributions of the first generation of American traders with China